関西学院大学産業研究所 KG-SANKEN Discussion Paper No.12
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
関西学院大学産業研究所 KG-SANKEN Discussion Paper No.12 KG- SANKEN DISCUSSION PAPER SERIES KG-SANKEN No.12 Multi-Layered Strategies in Global Governance Structure: Case of UNFCCC COP19 and the Coal and Climate Summit in Warsaw in 2013 関西学院大学産業研究所 副所長・ 准教授 市川 顕 Deputy Director & Associate Professor, Institute for Industrial Research, Kwansei Gakuin University 2015年 8月 関西学院大学産業研究所 Institute for Industrial Research, Kwansei Gakuin University 〒 662-8501 兵庫県西宮市上ケ原一番町1-155 TEL: 0798-54-6127 FAX: 0798-54-6029 E-mail： sanken＠ kwansei.ac.jp URL: http://www.kwansei.ac.jp/i_industrial/index.html 1 Multi-Layered Strategies in Global Governance Structure: Case of UNFCCC COP19 and the Coal and Climate Summit in Warsaw in 2013 Akira ICHIKAWA Kwansei Gakuin University Associate Professor 1: Preface 1-1: Aim of the Paper Poland has abundant coal resources on its territory. This has led it since its accession to the EU to oppose the EU 1 ’s ambitious climate change and energy policies. In the negotiations on the so-called “Triple 20 directive” 2 of climate change targets to be achieved by 2020 - a 20% reduction in GHG 3 emissions compared to 1990 levels, raising the proportion of renewable energy in primary energy production to 20%, and a 20% increase in energy efficiency compared with 1990 - Poland was joined in its opposition by several of the other new member states. However, in the later negotiation on the “Energy Roadmap 2050”, which agreed on a 80-95% reduction in GHG emissions compared with 1990, only Poland vehemently opposed the plan. As a result, the country has become relatively isolated from the other EU member states in its energy and climate policies. It was therefore against a somewhat contradictory background that Poland hosted the COP19 meeting of the UNFCCC 4 in Warsaw in November 2013 and accompanied it on its own initiative by a special Coal and Climate Summit. This article focuses on the multi-layered strategies of Poland’s energy and climate change policies illustrated at the COP19 and the Coal and Climate Summit. The persistence of coal use Poland despite its accession to the EU is worth detailed consideration when thinking about the geopolitics of energy and climate change policies in the 21st century. 2 2: COP19 2-1: Summary of COP19 The COP19 meeting of the UNFCCC was held on 11th-23rd November 2013 in Warsaw. Broadly speaking, the meeting had three main issues on which it tried to reach consensus between the participants. The first was the new international framework for dealing with GHG emissions after 2020, the so-called “Post-Kyoto”. Thanks to the discussions in COP19, the “Post-Kyoto” framework is due to be agreed at the COP21 meeting to be held in Paris in late 2015. The second issue was economic assistance for developing countries for their efforts towards mitigation and adaptation to global warming. Just before the COP19 meeting, on 8 th-9 th November 2013, the Philippines was hit by hurricane “Haiyan” causing catastrophic damage. This timely reminder of the devastation caused by natural disasters linked to climate change helped COP19 to agree on the founding of a structure to deal with "Losses and Damages" caused by natural disasters in conjunction with climate change. The third issue was strengthening the climate change measures of all participating countries by 2020. As a result of the discussion, all parties agreed that they would submit voluntary GHG reduction targets well in advance of the 2015 COP21 meeting. Overall, therefore, COP19 was a story of progress towards COP21 on all these three fronts. But besides this official picture, it is worth considering the contrasting position of Poland in the talks. This puts a rather different complexion on the COP19 meeting but has implications for the geopolitics of energy and climate change action in the 21st century. 2-2: The Intentions of Poland in COP19 2013, the year of the COP19 meeting, was characterized by a move throughout the world in favor of “avoiding coal use”. U.S. President Barak Obama published “The President’s Climate Action Plan” in June 2013. This 3 announced a tightening of the regulation of CO2 5 emissions from coal-fired power plants in the U.S 6 . Under the plan, the U.S. would cease exports and investment in the new coal-fired power plant construction in foreign developing countries 7 , except in two cases, namely use of either the best available coal technology or of CCS 8 technology. In July 2013 the World Bank announced that it would no longer support new coal-fired power plant emitting large amounts of GHGs 9 and the EIB 10, too, decided to reduce its support for coal-fired power plants 11 . In the same month the U.S. Export-Import Bank canceled its financing to the Thai Binh 2 nd coal-fired power plant in Vietnam 12. At COP19, the trend towards “avoiding coal use” was maintained. Britain endorsed the anti-coal stance adopted by the U.S. 13 and Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the IMF 14, also announced its decision not to invest in the coal industry 15 . Greenpeace, one of the foremost international environmental NGOs 16, demanded a complete break from coal use 17 and the Philippine Movement for Climate Justice, a local NGO based in the Philippines, pointed out the damage to health caused by coal mines and the combustion of coal 18. However, against these policy statements must be set the trend towards increasing coal use, especially in developing countries. The Globe and Mail reported that, in spite of the anti-coal movement, coal use had spread globally. Indeed, it would go so far as to say that “[c]oal is no longer the king of energy, it is the global emperor” 19. Poland, the country holding the presidency of COP19, used the conference as an opportunity to continue its promotion of the fuel, and to persuade its partners in the global community to take account of Poland’s unique position in the EU as a supporter of coal. An official of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, “We want to project a positive image of Poland, which sees EU climate policy in the context of global policy. We wish to put forward an unconventional case, highlighting modern technologies and making use of the media” 20. On 4 the eve of COP19, Marcin Korolec, then Minister for the Environment, complained about the EU’s climate change policies and insisted on Poland’s own perception. “I am not skeptical about climate change; I am skeptical about some of the European means of addressing it”. He added that, “Europe is moving too far ahead of other parts of the world on this issue. The concept of leading by example is not delivering” 21. Donald Tusk, the then Prime Minister of Poland, supported the continue use of Polish coal as an important primary energy source, saying that “Polish coal will again become a source of profit and energy. We will not be [misled] by the big [environmental-industrial] lobby and we will not try to convince people that solar panels and windmills are the energy future of Poland. These sources are only a complementary [means]”. Janusz Piechocinski, Economy Minister, declared that he would never give up the case for the use of domestic coal resources. He said in the Sejm on 7th November 2013 that for the next few decades coal would remain the staple fuel used by the Polish power industry and that the huge deposits of coal in Poland were a major advantage of the Polish economy 22. These remarks show that the Polish government regarded COP19 as an opportunity to appeal for the continuation of coal use, despite its position as the country holding the presidency of the meeting. 2-3: Controversy surrounding the Polish Position While Poland was trying to put forward its own viewpoint on coal at the time of the COP19 against the worldwide “anti-coal” trend that had gained strength in 2013, a number of Polish politicians and bureaucrats were going further than the remarks of Polish ministers and making rather more extreme comments about the situation. Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the leader of the right-wing “Law and Justice” party, for example, said that CO2 had no impact on the climate and that the regulations on climate change had been written to force Poland to buy expensive technologies 23. Off the 5 record, one Polish government official declared that the whole “climate thing” was a myth invented by the left wing, a scheme hatched by “influential lobbyists” planning to destroy Poland’s coal-based economy 24. The political situation during the COP19 meeting was also confused, when on 20th November, in the middle of the COP19, the Prime Minister Donald Tusk dismissed Marcin Korolec as Environment Minister in a cabinet reshuffle and appointed Maciej Grabowski, a former deputy Finance Minister, in his stead. Although Korolec continued to act the chairman of COP19 right up to the end, the dismissal of an Environment Minister during an UNFCCC international conference was extraordinary. Environmental NGOs were not slow to express their own irritation and dismay at the positions taken by Poland at and around the climate change talks. Around 800 delegates from environmental NGOs, including Greenpeace and Oxfam, expressed disapproval at the lack of progress at the conference and anger at the strong influences of coal lobbyists. In the end they left the talks in the Warsaw international stadium, in protest at the disappointing attitude of the host country. One WWF 25 spokesman said, “Warsaw, which should have been an important step in the transition to a sustainable future, is on track to deliver virtually nothing.